BOOK LOVERS WILL know that this month is One Dublin One Book month, where the capital celebrates one particular work of literature.

This year’s featured book is Nora: A Love Story of Nora Barnacle and James Joyce by the author Nuala O’Connor (published by New Island Books). 

Nora follows the frequently tumultuous life of Nora Barnacle, muse and wife of James Joyce. The book is an intimate portrayal of their relationship, beginning on that well-known date of 16 June 1904, they year they first met, and spanning decades and cities as they follow Joyce’s ferocious literary ambitions throughout Europe.

The idea behind One Dublin One Book is to encourage everyone in Dublin to read a designated book connected with the capital city during the month of April every year. To celebrate, there will be discussions, readings, music performances, film screenings, book club events and lots more in various venues across the city, as well as in Dublin City Libraries, DLR Libraries, Fingal Libraries and South Dublin Libraries. (You can find the full list here.)

The main event, Nora and Nuala, will take place on 21 April in St Ann’s Church, Dawson Street. At the event, Nuala O’Connor will be in conversation with writer and researcher Paula Shields as they discuss Nuala’s writing career, with a special focus on her novel Nora. The evening will feature music from Moxie Sings and dramatic readings from Nora from Niamh McCormack and Adam J Richardson. Tickets are available here.

Giveaway

To celebrate this year’s One Dublin One Book, Dublin UNESCO City of Literature have given us three goody bags consisting of:

• A copy of Nora: A Love Story of Nora Barnacle and James Joyce by Nuala O’Connor (New Island Books)
• A copy of Ulysses by James Joyce (special centenary edition remastered by Robert Gogan)
• A One Dublin One Book Nora notebook (At It Again)
• 2 complimentary admission tickets to MOLI (Museum of Literature Ireland)

To enter, email competitions@thejournal.ie with your name and tell us the answer to this question: 

• What year did Nora Barnacle and James Joyce first meet?

Hundreds of copies of NORA have been purchased by Dublin City Libraries and are available to borrow from all public libraries nationwide, and on e-book and e-audio format through the free BorrowBox library app.

The new One Dublin One Book edition of NORA is also available to buy from all good book shops. The National Council for the Blind Ireland have created a Braille version of the book. NORA is also available in fully accessible digital formats (EPUB, BRF (Braille Ready File), DAISY and Word) from the NCBI Bookshare Ireland platform.

Plus, RTÉ Radio One’s The Book on 1 will feature NORA by Nuala O’Connor over 10 nights in April, starting on 4 April.